A Dance As Old As Time
by powderedsugar
Summary: they were opposites, fire and water, but when Zuko saves Katara from a horrible fate, they are drawn together in an eternal dance Zutara
1. Chapter 1

_A dance as old as time_

_Fire and Water_

_Total opposites_

_Yet completely harmonious_

_Fire destroys_

_Water heals_

_Perfect compliments_

_Forever and all time._

Katara hummed as she slowly bent the water around her. Eyes closed, she became her element, slow and graceful. She formed the water into figures, first Aang, then Sokka, and finally Toph.

Right before she dropped the water back into the stream, she heard bushes rustling. It wasn't the soft sounds of a squirrel or fox moving through the underbrush. It was strong, like a person or some form of a bear.

Holding the water before her she slowly crept towards the woods, carefully and quietly. She had walked for a few minutes before she let her guard down. _It was probably just a young platypus-bear._ Katara turned around, letting the water sink into the ground. She stopped, and then turned again.

_Where did I come from?_ She wondered starting to panic. _It's ok Katara, just look for something familiar._ She wandered forward and soon found herself in a clearing. But this was not familiar territory and the figure sitting in the middle of it was not a friend.

He had heard her walk in. The fire in his hand had grown sharply with her movement. His breathing quickened and became erratic. Zuko did not glance up but he knew who it was. It was the Water Tribe Peasant that followed the Avatar. He noticed how she tried to quietly slip back into the shadows. _Pathetic_ he thought as the bushes rustled as she brushed by them. _Just pathetic. Stupid water peasant._ She obviously had very little skill in stealth judging by the trail she left, as clear as day.

He knew she had power. If the sun had not rose at that moment, the girl would have beaten him at the North Pole. But if he admitted that she was as powerful as him, that would be making them equals. It would be raising her to his level. _But you are equals. You are just a banished prince with nowhere to go. _The flame in his hands jumped at the thought.

Just then, his uncle came back from the woods carrying a bundle of firewood. Iroh looked at his nephew and the large fire hovering over his hands.

"Is something troubling you Zuko?"

"No, nothing at all."

"Now I know that is not true. Look at the size of that flame" Zuko glanced down at the rather large fire spreading between his calloused palms. "Come, let's have a cup of tea"

"I don't want any tea uncle" Zuko said as he stood up from his stiff position on the ground.

With that he stalked off into the direction that Katara went. He knew where the Avatar's campsite was but he did not take advantage of this knowledge. He had stopped chasing them after Azula hurt his uncle. Zuko's fists clenched at the thought of her name.

He heard the water from the stream and followed the sound. Then he saw her. The water seemed to listen to her as she bent it around her. _I see she found her way back okay._ With that he sat down, and watched. His fire was so different. He let loose fire from his emotions. He was just a host to the flame. She controlled the water. She was the master of her element. She was his opposite in every way.

She was flawless, her bending perfect. His skin was marred by a scar reaching across his face, his element mocked him as he trained. How could he be drawn to her? How could he watch her, not with disgust, but with amazement?

Her movement entranced him. Every move was deliberate and smooth. It was if she was dancing with the water in a perfectly choreographed performance. She eventually stopped practicing and began just toying with the water. Her element danced around her in a playful game. He almost laughed when she formed the water into the shape of a flame. The water flame mimicked a real fire as she shot drops of water into the air like the sparks of a campfire. The girl looked up at the sky and sighed. The sun was directly overhead.

Slowly, she placed the water back into the stream. When she turned to walk back to her camp, the banished prince could stand it no longer. He had to touch her. Zuko stalked out of the shadows and grasped her arm. "So I hear the Avatar needs a firebending teacher…"

_A dance as old as time_

_Fire and Water_

_Total opposites_

_Yet completely harmonious_

_Fire destroys_

_Water heals_

_Perfect compliments_

_Forever and all time._


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanx to all of those who reviewed! You guys rock. So you all get cyber cookies!

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Disclaimer: Yeah Yeah I don't own it…

**Chapter 2**

Before she turned around fully, she had a rather large orb of water ready to be used and an endless supply of water behind her. _Surely he wouldn't be that stupid_. "What do you want?" she asked venomously, ready if he should decide to attack. Zuko hesitated at the malice in her voice but continued nonetheless. "I said 'So, I hear the avatar needs someone to teach him firebending.'"

She jerked her arm away. "Why would that concern you? All you want to do is capture him and give him to your father so you can be granted your honor." She said mockingly.

"Even the avatar wouldn't help me now" he mumbled. But she heard it and looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Why is that any of your business?"

"If you're going to be like that then you can forget about joining us!" she said readying a water whip.

"No! I don't want to fight you anymore! I am tired of fighting for my honor when the person who would grant it never loved me and banished me, his only son, never to return home! I am tired of running! Do you know how it feels to not be wanted by your family? Knowing you could never go home? Knowing that you are hated by _all_ of the nations? I'm tired of it all! If I joined you…" Zuko stopped.

His heart was racing with all of the pent up emotions flowing out of him like a waterfall. _Why did I just do that?_ He asked himself. He brushed off his uncle's accusations of being depressed and withdrawn without thinking twice about it, but now that this _girl_ that he didn't even know, asked about his problems, he felt like he was going to rip at the seams and explode from the confines of his closed mind. He looked up to see her calm reflective eyes boring into his, pleading for answers.

"Yes…? If you joined us what?" Her eyes were soft and inquisitive instead of burning and hostile, the water suspended next to her had dropped to the ground.

"If I joined you, maybe I could go home." Her eyes were filled with sympathy. This threw him off the edge. "You know what? I don't need your pity. Never mind. Just forget it. Forget this ever happened." Zuko turned sharply to walk away. This time it was Katara that grabbed him by the arm. "Let me talk to Aang. Meet me here at sunset." With that she turned away and walked upstream, most likely towards her camp.

Zuko stood and watched her walk into the shadows that the tall trees cast upon the stream bank. He realized that his only hope of returning home was resting on the shoulders of someone who he had tied to a tree, threatened, and hunted for a year. How could he trust her with such a great burden? Well, it wasn't much of a burden to her, but to him it was huge.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it's been a while. My parents made me go to my lake house in Tennessee and visit crazy relatives. My brother's girlfriend was there and so was her mom. So it was pretty much mass chaos. My family told all of these stories and I have been working on making them into short stories for creative writing ("This Cat is Tame Story" "Dead Chicken Story" "Zabo The Bear Story" "I knew that dog was dead story" I cannot make these up) I will be rewriting the first two chapters but it may take a while. ::huggles::

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Disclaimer: Me no own it (my laptop is having an aneurism at that sentence )

**Chapter 3**

When Katara walked back into camp, she tried to make it look like she didn't have a care in the world. She put an easy smile on her face and strode with easy movements. But inside, she was full of turmoil. _How do I ask Aang for this? How will Sokka react? Will they accept him? What will Toph…wait Toph doesn't really have any prejudices against him. _Katara walked over to Toph and sat down next to her.

"Hey Toph…"

"Yes Sugar Queen"

"I need to talk with you, just for a sec."

"Ok, what is it?"

"Not around the boys…"

"Oh…ok" Toph stood up and Katara did too. She made up some excuse to leave with Toph and they walked back towards the river. As soon as they were out of earshot, and were sure Sokka and Aang weren't following them, Toph turned to Katara. 

"If it is about you having a crush on anyone I'm leaving."

"Oh no. Goodness no. I just need to ask you something. You know that firebender that used to be following us with his uncle? The one with the scar?"

"Yeah what of him?"

"Well, I was kind of thinking that he and his uncle could teach Aang firebending. The comet will be here soon and he needs to master all four elements before it arrives."

"First of all, why do you think that this firebender who has been chasing you guys around the world would now want to train Aang? Secondly, why haven't you told your brother or Twinkle-toes?"

"Because I know how they will react! And Zuko has already asked me…"

"Wait, when did you talk to him?"

"Just a few minutes ago…" she said sheepishly scuffing the ground with a booted foot. She heard Toph sigh and she looked up in hope.

"How exactly do we get Sokka and Aang to accept him?"

"Wait, you're agreeing with me? Oh thank you Toph! Thank you thank you thank you thank you…" she squealed hugging Toph. Toph pushed her away harshly.

"No hugs please. And I think it is the best idea that I have heard in a long while. Sokka's idea of searching the world for a blind and delirious firebender that we could trick into teaching Aang was ridiculous. So, once again, how do you think we could get Snoozles and Aang to accept him?"

"I don't know" Katara said as she sat down on a rock. "I haven't really thought that through. I was hoping you would help me."

"His uncle won't be a problem, he is nice enough. But the 'prince', well, we might need a little more than your waterbending and my earthbending to keep the boys from killing him."

"Wait, that's it! His uncle got hit in the shoulder with lightning right? I could pretend to heal him with my waterbending and we would have to take care of him and Zuko and his uncle could join us! Thank You Toph! You are amazing!"

"Hold on, Sugar Queen," She said grabbing the back of Katara's dress before she ran off. "His shoulder is probably already healed by now. Did you ever think that through?"

"It hasn't been that long! He has to have some lingering symptoms!"

"I don't know…but we have to figure it out soon, the boys are coming" Toph responded kneeling to the ground and feeling the earth with her fingertips. Within seconds Katara heard hers and Toph's name being called by Sokka and Aang. Katara sighed as she turned her face towards the afternoon sun. _I have about 2 hours until the sun sets. Maybe I can come up with something._ She then turned and shouted towards the woods "We're over here!"

Soon the boys came crashing through the underbrush, breathless. "Where…were you guys?...You were…gone so….long we….started to get…worried." Aang said while panting for breath.

"We have been here the entire time Twinkle-toes"

"Tell us next time if you are going to be gone that long"

"We don't have to tell you where we are going! We don't belong to you!" Toph said showing her hostile and independent nature. Katara put a hand on her shoulder.

"We didn't mean to be out so long. C'mon, I need to go start dinner."

"But it's still two hours until we need to eat, although I wouldn't mind and extra meal." Sokka piped in.

"I…I need to train tonight." Katara stammered out. The boys shrugged and began to walk back to camp.

"Nicely done Sugar Queen" Toph whispered as they turned back to camp.

Katara made dinner as quickly as possible, her mind on how to get the rest of the group to accept Zuko and Iroh. As soon as she was done with the thick stew she was making, she glanced up at the sky. It was almost sunset so she told the gang that she was going to the stream to practice and to keep the stew warm for her.

She set off to the stream, a good fifteen minute walk. She probably had thirty minutes until the sunset but she wanted to be early and to maybe practice a little waterbending before Zuko got there.

Once she reached the water, a happy sigh escaped her. Sure, she had practiced earlier that day but since then, the tension inside her had doubled. She removed her dress and waded into the stream. Katara ducked down into her element and let herself be surrounded by the water. She stood up, a smile on her face. She made a huge column of ice shoot up out of the water and she froze it. Then, she turned it into gas and then back into water. She had been working on that trick for weeks. To be able to go from solid straight to gas was an amazing feat. Little did she know, two pairs of eyes were observing her quietly through the trees.

Katara waded out of the water and squeezed her hair out. She was about to put her dress back on when she felt an arm wrap around her waist and a hand clamp over her mouth. "Don't make a sound and we won't hurt you…much" whispered a dangerous voice into her ear from behind. Katara tried to make a water whip but another set of hands clamped her wrists together in front of her. The man that held her wrists seemed to be in his twenties and his lips were curled in an evil smirk. He looked to be of the Earth Kingdom but his eyes were gold, like those of the Fire Nation. Before she could dwell on this, she was yanked back into the forest and roughly pinned up against a tree. The hands let her go but before she could draw out water, her arms were tied to the tree and a blade held by the man that tied her to the tree traced her cheek as he walked back towards his leader.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have caught this time boys" said the voice of the man that had held her wrists as three more men emerged from the trees snickering. "A waterbender. A pretty little thing like you shouldn't be out here all alone. Especially dressed like that" he said in a sickly sweet voice, looking her scantily clad form up and down. "There are bad people in these woods that would want to harm you." The man sauntered up to her slowly. He reached out and stroked Katara's jaw line with a rough and calloused hand. "Get away from me!" She yelled, struggling against the thick ropes that help her to the tree.

She had been in this situation before, but last time she knew Sokka and Aang thought it strange that she was gone. Nobody would come and rescue her now. The man began to caress the skin of her bare stomach and then roughly pressed his lips against hers, forcing her lips apart with his. Katara screamed into his mouth and tried to get away. Then the man was yanked away from her and Zuko stood in front of her, wielding his broadswords. "Don't touch her again" "What are you? Her boyfriend?"

"Ewwwww…gross!" Katara and Zuko responded at the same time. They glanced at each other disgusted by the thought. When they looked back up, they saw the man charging at them, a rusty dagger drawn. Zuko quickly fended him off with his swords. He turned around and slashed the swords through the air. The ropes binding her fell to the ground. "Run!" he yelled. She had begun trying to pull enough water out of the damp forest floor to produce a water whip. When she looked up at the sound of his voice, she dropped the meager amount of water in surprise. "Stupid peasant, Run!" She turned to sprint towards her camp but the guy that originally captured her knocked her out with a blow to the side of her head with the hilt of a small blade.

Seeing this, Zuko immediately began to attack the men with the swords. He managed to knock the leader out and he turned to the other four. The first one had some skill with hand to hand combat but the others were, in his opinion, were lumbering idiots when it came to fighting. Zuko made quick work of them with a few well placed hits, knocking them all out. He looked at the men, all sprawled on the ground and smirked. Then he saw Katara, and remembered why he was fighting. It had felt so good just to get some of his anger that he had completely forgotten the waterbender. He knelt next to her and looked at her face. It was already swelling on the side where she was hit. _That will bruise later._

Zuko picked her up and brought her back to his camp. Iroh looked up when her heard his nephew moving close to where they had decided to stop for the night. "Zuko is that you? Would you like some lavender tea?" He said standing up, clutching gently to the spot where Azula hit him. It still hurt a little. "What are you doing with her?" Iroh asked when he saw the meagerly clothed waterbender limp in his arms, concern spread across his old features.

"I found her tied up against a tree and some men were surrounding her."

"Much like how you tied her up to a tree?"

"I didn't try to rape her like these men did. We have to get her back to the Avatar's camp."

"Why is she unconscious?"

"One of the men did it when she tried to run away. I'm taking her to their camp now, are you coming?" His uncle sighed a little at the thought of packing up camp.

"Maybe they like tea…" Iroh brightened up and within minutes, their blankets were rolled up, the fire was extinguished and the tea was carefully poured into a water skin. Zuko was still holding Katara and as soon as his uncle was ready, they set off to the Avatar's camp.

On the way back, they passed by the stream and found her dress near the edge of the forest. His uncle grinned at him, as he picked up the piece of clothing. Zuko scowled and stalked off with the motionless form of the girl towards the smoke that marked the Avatar's campsite.

When walked out of the woods, Aang and Sokka immediately went into warrior stances, Sokka wielding his boomerang, and Aang in a horse stance ready to throw a rock at him. Toph was relatively unconcerned due to Katara's and hers earlier conversation.

"What did you do to Katara?" yelled Aang.

"What happened to my baby sister?" shouted Sokka, ready to attack him. Zuko said nothing as he laid the inert form of the water bender near the fire. He looked up when he heard his uncle moving through the brush and into camp.

"Who wants tea?"

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And I'm ending it there. I'm being to nice to you guys and not leaving a cliffy. Please review. And I hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving.


	4. Chapter 4

I wrote this over the trip back from my lake house so I apologize for any typos or random trains of thought. Four hours stuck in a cramped car with an older brother, two dogs, and two psycho parents can get to you.

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Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA

**Chapter 4**

Zuko was bent over Katara when he finally decided to speak, but not after until he had the chance to glare at his uncle looking insane with his psycho tea obsessions. "Five men attacked her and tied her up to a tree. I fought them off but she got hit with a tree branch and was knocked out." Aang completely forgot about Zuko and knelt next to Katara. He felt the swelling on the side of her head. It was starting to bruise now. "How do we know he's not lying?" Asked Sokka, still ready to attack Zuko and his uncle. "He wouldn't have brought her back if he did it" said Toph, finally putting her two-cents in.

Katara began to stir and moan. Zuko looked at her. "There isn't much you can do for her except wait until she wakes up. She was hit pretty hard. She will have a huge headache and will probably be disoriented at first." With that, he turned back to the woods, hoping that they would catch the bait. Toph realized what he was trying to do so she spoke up again.

"How can we repay you?" Aang and Sokka looked at her incredulously. It was strange to see her in such a diplomatic position. "What are you Toph? Blind?" Sokka yelled. Toph turned and gave him the dirtiest look she could muster. "Oh right…" "We owe him something for his protection of Katara." The boys glared at her but realized the wisdom of her words.

"Yes, how can we repay you?" said Sokka through gritted teeth.

"We don't need that now! Let's just wait until the girl wakes up and then we can figure it out! Now, would any of you like tea?" Said Iroh, smiling openly at them. Toph had met him already and Aang immediately took to his nice and open air. Soon the three of them were seated round a campfire, drinking warm jasmine tea. Sokka was sulking next to his sister, holding a cool cloth to her head, waiting for her to wake up. Zuko sat up against a tree, silently observing.

Katara's moans got a little louder and her eyes slowly opened a little. "Hey! She's waking up!" Everybody gathered around her. Sokka helped her sit up as her eyes opened a little more. Aang held her hand and he supported her back. "Get me some water" she croaked out as she put a hand to her head. Zuko pulled her hand away from the swelling. "Don't touch it, it could get worse." She looked at him, finally seeing him and his uncle. Her eyes were wide now, and surprise was written all over her face. Toph had brought a water skin to her and Katara bent the water into a glowing blue glove and placed it to her head. Her eyes closed when the water alleviated her pain and before their eyes, the bruise and swelling disappeared.

"Now that we know you are better, we shall take our leave. C'mon Uncle." Zuko said, bowing towards them. He then turned and walked to the woods.

"No!" Katara said weakly. "Wait!" Zuko stopped. "I want to thank you for helping me. I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been there. How can I repay you?"

"You can heal with you waterbending right?" asked Zuko, still not turning around.

"Yes…"

"Could you heal the lightning wound on my uncle's chest? You were there when my crazy sister hit him. I believe the exchange would be fair."

"Forgive my nephew for his forwardness, miss. He has…" Iroh said but Katara cut him off.

"No need to apologize." Katara smiled and tried to stand up. Aang and Sokka helped her and steadied her. "And of course I will heal you. But it is so small compared to what your nephew did for me." She said nodding towards Zuko's back. But Sokka intervened. "Katara, you're not strong enough yet. You just woke up from being knocked out." As if to prove his point, Katara's knees buckled and she would have collapsed if it weren't for her brother's and Aang's support.

"As much as I hate to admit it Sugar Queen, Snoozles is right. You can't heal anyone properly if you can hardly stand." Toph said. Zuko turned sharply.

"We can wait until she is well. My Uncle's health is worth the wait." Everybody looked at him, stunned by his compassion. Iroh looked at him with gratitude in his eyes.

"We will stay here for the night." He continued.

Later that night, Toph, Aang, and Sokka were all gathered around a sleeping Katara. They had managed to get her back into her dress and into her warm sleeping bag. Toph had told them about Iroh and Zuko's willingness to teach Aang firebending. When they asked how she knew, her response was that Iroh had talked with her about it. Sokka was morally set against it, but Aang, with his trusting nature, was completely for the idea.

Zuko was off meditating somewhere, while Iroh was setting out their blankets and bed rolls. He overheard the whispered conversation of the youth's and smiled. He also heard Sokka's grudging agreement and Aang's triumphant "Yes!" Iroh smiled and snuck off to find his nephew.

Zuko was sitting next to the stream, quietly meditating. As much as he hated to admit it, the gentle and continuous sounds of the flowing water calmed him and soothed his frayed nerves. In just a few hours, he had proposed to be a part of a group that he had been hunting for a year, saved the waterbending girl from being raped, getting yelled at by her brother and the Avatar, and had been invited to stay with them a little longer. It was all too much. And to put even more on top of it, Azula was hunting him, his uncle, and the Avatar, and those men from earlier could probably find the new campsite and kidnap that girl again. _What was her name again? Takara? Katala? Katara? That's it. Katara._

He never stopped to think about her before. She was just the Avatar's companion and teacher. She was his enemy and had no significance beyond that. Until now. Zuko didn't know why he decided to save her. A few months ago he would have laughed at her if he saw he in that position. But ever since he and his uncle severed all ties with the Fire Nation, he found himself slightly less prejudiced against the common people. Zuko had lived it all: that of a prince, a beggar, criminal, refugee, and peasant. These experiences humbled him and he was no longer the proud arrogant prince that he once was. Now, he was only a proud, arrogant refugee.

Zuko turned his head at the sound of bushes rustling. The broadswords came out of the sheath, lying at his side. The blades, however, lowered after he saw his uncle moving towards him. "What is it? I was meditating."

"Great news Zuko! They are considering letting us stay and teach the Avatar firebending! They haven't told me yet but I overheard them talking about it and the Avatar apparently needs to learn firebending really soon.

"I'll try to contain my excitement."

Ever since he admitted to Katara that he wanted to join their gang, he was filled with regret. And it wasn't just the "I shouldn't have done that" kind of regret. It was the "That was the stupidest thing I have ever done and I have changed my life forever in a bad kind of way" kind of regret. Why did he have to go and spill his guts to that stupid girl? He could have just gone on with his life. Him and his uncle would have lived in a town, served tea and not be disturbed by the war anymore. But could he have really lived like that? He would constantly be on the look-out for Azula, and he could never firebend openly again. His life would be quiet and he would be some lowly tea-server in a run down tea shop. His life needed a purpose, it needed a goal. And being with the Avatar, he would live for something and strive for something that was near impossible, a feat which he favored considerably.

_Maybe this won't be that bad._

**_That bad? How can it not be that bad? You have joined the Avatar and have pretty much resigned yourself to never going back to the Fire Nation! How can that be "not that bad" _**Zuko's mind screamed at him.

_Well, what if they win? Then Iroh or I will become Fire Lord, Azula will be locked up, Ozai will be dead and the world will live in peace._

_**Do you honestly think the world can ever be at peace? Our nation has invaded other nations, burned villages, and killed an entire race and many others in the process. I really don't think they will be ready to accept the Fire Nation with open arms.**_

_Oh, just shut up. _He thought as he stood up from his stiff position on the bank. Zuko looked up to still see his uncle there, grinning at his nephew's battle within himself. "Don't worry nephew" Iroh said "everything is about to change for the better." His nephew only nodded stiffly before returning to the camp.

He collapsed onto his sleeping mat when he got there. The moon was high and all of the others had fallen asleep. Zuko turned over onto his side and realized that Iroh had placed his mat directly next to the waterbender, Katara. She was moaning in her sleep and writhing slowly. One of her hands unconsciously pressed against the side of her head where she had been hit. The swelling had returned and the bruising had started again. She mumbled in her sleep. She was saying "Leave me alone" and "Get away from me". The girl was obviously in pain. Katara seemed to be reliving the events from earlier with the men. Zuko took her hand away from her head and held it softly. Her hand clenched around his as another round of lancing pain spread through her temples.

Zuko remembered a trick Iroh had shown him. He was told that if he pressed and rubbed a certain place on his hand, his headache would disappear. He found the spot in between Katara's thumb and index finger where the muscle was thick and he could feel the bones of her hand with the outside of his thumb. He pressed down on it and gently moved his thumb in circles, while his index finger massaged the underside of the muscle. Her writhing slowly ceased and her eyes gently opened. Her eyes however, snapped shut quickly at the pain from the light of the slowly dying fire.

Katara did not register who woke her up or who was massaging her hand, but it felt good so she let him continue. The person was obviously male, for the hand was huge and calloused and did not seem to have the delicateness of a woman's hand. She could feel the pressure point where he was pressing. It hurt, but it felt good at the same time. The gentle pressure alleviated her headache within minutes and she was able to fully open her eyes.

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It's a little shorter than the last chapter I know. I am about to completely re-write the first two chapters so it might be a while until my next new chapter. Apologies for that and please review::Huggles::


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the wait! I have been so busy with soccer, basketball, exams, and all of that crap but now I'm back! So here we go with another chapter! Oh, and by the way, I am adding a few characters in a few chapters and so the language will become a little rougher aka there will be a lot of swearing.

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Disclaimer: I don't own it

_**Chapter 5**_

Katara's eyes opened blearily as she felt her headache melt away. She smiled at Zuko. His forehead was furrowed as he concentrated on his task. Each circle of his thumb made her head feel that much better. The massage, while soothing, was slightly painful and she winced when his thumb struck a nerve.

"Sorry" he whispered before switching to her other hand.

"There is nothing to be sorry about" she whispered back "Thank You" He continued with his gentle massage until she fell back asleep. She lay quietly this time, and a content smile was on her face. Zuko returned to his sleeping mat and closed his eyes.

The next morning came way too quickly for him. He had stayed up half of the night with Katara, and for a long time, he had stared at the stars, trying to fall asleep. Katara came over to him and gently shook his shoulder. He groaned and turned his face away from and the sun and into the crook of his arm.

"Lemme alone" His voice was muffled by his elbow. Katara laughed gently. She turned away.

"I'll let you sleep. I just wanted to say thank you for helping me last night and that breakfast is ready. But if you don't hurry, Sokka may just get it all." His eyes squinted open. Gently, he raised himself up off the ground.

Zuko saw Aang talking to his uncle quietly and his uncle nodded slowly. Aang practically tackled the old man, but stopped when he saw his shoulder. Zuko knew what they had been talking about. Sokka's grumpy look and Aang's proud one told him that Aang had just asked Iroh to be his firebending teacher.

Toph slammed her earth tent to the ground and yelled "Good morning earth bending student!" Aang cringed. Toph stomped to him, grabbed his ear, and drug him off to a small clearing nearby. Sokka went off in the search of food (but this time insisted that he would not get stuck in a hole.)

"Excuse me, Mr. Iroh," Katara started "I can probably heal your chest now if you let me have a look at it"

Iroh smiled. "Dear, I don't want you to strain yourself."

"No, I am okay now, and it is best if I can heal it before it gets infected or it scars over. Now lie down and let me see it." Iroh lay down and moved his charred shirt off his shoulder and removed the wraps. Katara gasped.

His shoulder was black and crusty on the edges where it hadn't healed properly. It also looked as if it had been bleeding recently. Swiftly, she brought water out of her pouch and formed it into a glowing glove around her hand. She placed it on the wound and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. After a short while, much to Zuko's and Iroh's amazement, the wound completely disappeared except for some small scarring where it had partially healed before Katara had had the opportunity to help.

Iroh thanked her heartily and offered to cook for that night for payment. Katara only shook her head. "No, this was part of the deal, so you owe me nothing. Just make sure you don't do anything to strenuous. The skin around that area is still thin and soft so it could open up again"

When Toph came back with Aang, Katara burst out laughing. The poor boy was covered in dirt and had the most exhausted look on his face.

"I guess…this…wouldn't be a…good time…to ask if…you wanted to…practice water…bending would it?" Katara managed to ask while laughing. Aang glared at her and threw himself to the ground. Sokka came back out of the woods, carrying a bunch of fruits, leechi nuts and some roots.

"We need to buy some more food, we are close to running out of meat." He commented lightly.

"With what? We have used up all of the money we have." Katara shot back. Sokka looked at the exiled prince and the retired general. Iroh shrugged and held out empty hands, signifying their lack of money. He turned to Zuko who shook his head stoically.

"Not again Uncle" Zuko said and then walked off into the woods to meditate. Katara ran after him.

"Not again do what?" She asked once she caught up to him. He said nothing. She asked again and put her hand on his shoulder to make him stop. He simply shrugged it off and kept. He found a secluded glade and sat down. Katara plopped down next to him and he growled in frustration.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I want to know what you did!"

"I stole! Okay? I took money from rich people to pay for my food! And I refuse to do it again!"

"Why?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because there is no honor in that" Zuko turned away from her and a small flame began to hover right above his upturned palms. She started back towards camp.

"Wait" Katara turned around.

"I'll walk you back to camp. Just incase those freaks are around." Katara, stunned once again by his compassion, silently nodded and they walked back towards camp.

"I meant to ask you. Why did you help me back in that glade and why are you helping me now? I mean, it's not like I miss you being mean or anything, but why are you so nice all of a sudden?"

Zuko heaved a sigh. "One, I would wish the fate you would have had on no one. Two, if I did not help you, then you would not have let me come with you. And I am helping you now because you have helped my uncle."

"Thank You"

They said nothing more on the walk back. When they arrived in camp, they found Iroh sitting facing Aang. Aang was listening intently and focusing only on the old general. Sokka was trying to prod the nonexistent breakfast fire back into existence and Toph was playing with Momo.

Katara sighed. Same old same old. Zuko smirked and shot a fire dart at the lifeless fire in front of Sokka. Sokka jumped back with a yelp of surprise and when he figured out the culprit, he crouched back over the crackling flames.

"Bastard"

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Sorry again for the long wait. While I was writing this, my puppy decided that she was going to eat mouse poison. So I had to deal with that. There wasn't much action in this chapter but there will be more in the next few. I also need some names for two people: a girl and a boy, twins so if you can think of some, please leave it in a review! Happy New Year!


	6. Chapter 6

A.N.: Yeah…I know I am awful about updating so sorry. Thank you all so much for the suggestions! They really helped me out. So enjoy!

Disclaimer: 1/\/ L337! 1 d0 /\/07 0\/\//\/ 4v47412 743 L457 411283/\/d312! Translation: In Leet! I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender

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Shortly after the last of food had been eaten, Katara dragged Aang off for some waterbending. His was oddly quiet and did not seem to have much energy as he streamed the water around him half-heartedly. The water dropped back into the stream pathetically. After a while, Katara was finally tired of it.

"Aang, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, its nothing"

"Aang, I'm not stupid. Just tell me what's wrong. You know you can tell me anything."

"I just…last time I was firebending, I hurt you. I don't want it to happen again. I never want to hurt you again" Katara waded towards him and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up into her eyes and she pulled him into a hug.

"Aang, I don't want you to ever worry about hurting me. I can heal myself. Don't forsake your duties as the Avatar just because of past events."

"But fire is the most destructive element. What if I can't control it?" Katara made the water underneath them lift and turn into circular disks.

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood" She whispered to him. Aang looked up, a new spark in his eyes. Then, Katara shot her arm and split the little ice floe in half. With a speedy reaction, Aang lifted himself from the ice before it capsized with a thick column of water. Katara had reformed her half of the ice quick enough to not sink and was sitting calmly on the surface.

"You have come very far Aang." She said as they waded out of the water. She slung her arm around his narrow shoulders and gave him a side hug as she bended the water out of their clothes and back into the creek.

When they got back to camp, Sokka was laughing hysterically, Toph was grinning as well as Iroh. Zuko was sitting away from them looking annoyed. (What else is new?)

"What wrong?" asked the ever curious Aang.

"Iroh has come up with a way to make some money" Sokka said through his tears of mirth.

Half an hour later, the gang found themselves on the corner of a street, while Iroh danced on top of a soap box. Aang, Sokka, and Toph were smiling and holding out a small tin, which people put coppers into. Momo was sitting on Aang's shoulder, chattering happily. Zuko was sitting a good fifteen feet away from them, muttering to himself "I am not related to him. I am not related to him. I am not related to him…"

After enough time to make Zuko start beating his head against a wall and collect a fair amount of money, Iroh bounced off the box asked how much money they had. Katara swiftly counted it and they had made enough money to buy enough supplies for several weeks. They convinced Zuko to walk with them to the market, even though he stayed a fair distance away from his uncle, trying desperately not to bring attention to himself.

After buying some food, needles, thread (to patch Sokka's ever ripping pants) and tea for Iroh, the gang made their way back to the forest. Just before they walked out of the town, an old lady began yelling at them.

"Don's go back! They will get you!" Aang turned around to face the crazy lady.

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious. She ushered them towards her house.

"There are two spirits that live in the woods. They have been protecting the woods for decades. Make as little noise as possible and do not light fires on all costs." She whispered, once they were in the shelter of the awning around her house. This lady was proving herself more and more crazy with every word she spoke.

"But we have been in there for days and have been lighting fires every night. Wouldn't 'They' have come already?" Sokka retorted.

"That's what you think" The woman slinked back into her house and they could hear her muttering "Can't say I didn't warn them. They'll be sorry. Ohh, yes they'll be sorry…"

Sokka raised an eyebrow_. How many more crazy people would they meet in this whirl-wind expedition?_ He wondered.

That night, they lit the campfire as usual, and Iroh had burned a smoldering hole in a leaf, instructing Aang to keep the fire away from the edges. Toph was raising earth tents for every one and Katara was peeling potatoes with an ice blade. Appa was munching happily on some leaves and Momo was smuggling off peaches from the rations bag.

Toph raised her head after she was finished. Her highly sensitive ears picked up a small rustling in the underbrush. She was able to feel vibrations, but they suddenly stopped. She thought nothing of it and sat by the fire with Katara, who was now dropping the potatoes into a pot. (A.N. You have no idea how much I wanted to put the "What's taters" scene from the Lord of The Rings in here)

Then the ruslting came again but this time, it was sharply accompanied by a voice.

"What the fuck are you doing in my woods?"

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YaY! Another chapter done. The "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." Quote is from Marie Curie. I was working on a slide show for chemistry and she was my subject so I just plugged it in! Thank you for all of the fabulous suggestions and reviews! I think I am going to pass huggles this time and go straight to tackling.

tackles

powderedsugar


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own it and I am getting tired of disclaimers

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The voice was quickly followed by a long, lean body jumping from the over hanging trees. It was a girl. She was tall, with thick brown hair that hung to her waist. Her eyes were a vivid green and she was tan like an earth bender. Her face was fairly attractive, with a oval shaped face, and freckles that dotted her face. But the most astonishing thing about her hung from her hands. Two long, thin, and ever so slightly curved fighting knives were held loosely in her hands.

"We didn't know that the forest belonged to anyone." Sokka stated as if talking to a four year old. The girl stepped to them, towering over Zuko, who was the tallest of the group. The girl looked them up and down, appraising them. They did not seem like much of a threat, well, at least not to her, and even if they were, he was hiding in the trees, waiting to come out.

"I know Lady Siko told you that this forest belonged to us, so don't even try telling me otherwise."

"Us…who is _us_?" Aang asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. The girl turned her jade gaze down towards him.

"Ah, an Air Nomad. You are something I have never seen before." She said, looking at his tattoo with interest glistening in her eyes.

"He's not just an Air Nomad, or an air bender, he's the Avatar. We need to get through this forest so can we please pass?" Katara said, trying to keep everybody happy. She had seen that Toph had gotten into one of her stances and that Zuko had drawn his Dao.

"Just because he is the Avatar do not expect me to let you pass. But there is something I will let you do to get pass." She turned a whistled into the trees. A boy, just as lean as her, stepped out. He had thick shaggy hair and was even taller than the girl. The boy's face was angular, with a strong jaw and a roguish grin, which reminded Katara vividly of Jet. He, too, had bright green eyes. A whip was coiled on his hip, and a sheathed katana crossed his back.

"You can help us eradicate a group of soldiers that have overstayed their welcome." The boy said in a resonating deep voice. "They have been camping in our forest for three weeks and they have been cutting down our trees. Normally, my sister and I would take care of them, but there are too many for us. You may pass through the woods alive if you help us."

"Of coarse we will!" Iroh said happily. "Out of curiosity, what nationality are they?" The strange siblings smirked.

"Fire nation. Now follow us, we will show you to our home." The turned to the trees and seemed to melt into the shadows. The only way the group was able to follow them, was Toph's earthbending.

The group found the siblings clearing some leaves out of a small area. A trapdoor emerged from the leaf litter and the girl pulled on the thick bronze handle. With a heave, she lifted it upwards. A dark stairway materialized. Just before she disappeared into the darkness of the unlit stairway, she turned back to the group.

"By the way, my name is Kai, and my twin's name is Thom." Kai turned to the stairwell, but turned back. "And you are…?" she supplied.

"Oh! I'm Katara, this is Aang, my brother Sokka, Aang's earthbending teacher Toph, his firebending teacher Iroh, and Iroh's nephew Zuko." Katara quickly said, but soon realized her mistake of naming Iroh and Zuko. Thom glanced at the firebenders but said nothing.

The cavern suddenly burst with light, as Kai lit several lamps. A hidden paradise emerged. Lush pillows blanketed the bamboo floors and several sofas decorated the space. A small table was in the middle of the room, and three doors lead off into other rooms. There was a cabinet in the corner, holding earthenware places and thick metal silverware.

"Most of the stuff was our parents, they protected these woods before us. We got some of the pillows and sofas from firebending troops transporting noble's possessions. Now, we give all of the money to Lady Siko to give to the villagers." Kai said as she threw her now sheathed fighting swords onto the table. Thom took his whip off of his hip, and unstrapped his katana and, he too, threw his weapons onto the table.

Sokka looked around, but then turned back to the twins. "Why have you decided to trust us to help you?" suspicion clear in his voice. Thom turned around to face him.

"The troops are from the Fire Nation. You are not only traveling with the Avatar, but you are also traveling with the banished prince of the Fire Nation and his uncle." Zuko glared at Katara, furious for her mistake.

"We would have recognized you without your name, Zuko. And if the water bender hadn't told us your name, we would have killed you for suspicion of spying." Kai remarked idly, while filling a small pot with water. She pulled back a curtain that was almost hidden and revealed a small fire pit.

"As I was saying before I was _rudely_ interrupted, since you are traveling with Zuko, we would assume that Zuko has some hostile feelings towards his nation, and if not that, you have the Avatar who is trying to stop the war. You guys would probably want to help us keep our woods and the villagers safe."

"But why do the villagers call you spirits?" Toph asked.

"They never see us. We leave the money and food at Lady Siko's doorstep, with a note. She makes sure it goes to the right place. Despite how crazy she may seem, she really is a good person. Our parents protected these woods before us. It was our mother who bended our home out of the earth. She was an earthbender." Kai said after sparking a small fire.

Toph placed a hand on the wall. "These are perfectly crafted. How old are these walls?"

"Hmmm…twenty years maybe? Yeah that sounds about right." She replied, looking at the earthen walls. Aang, Momo, (he had been sitting on Aang's shoulder during the whole interaction), Zuko, and Iroh sat stiffly on the comfortable sofa. Thom laughed at them.

"You guys need to be less stiff, now come over here so we can figure out a plan." He said in his bass voice. He sat down at the table and rolled out a small scroll that he held in a pocket of his earth nation clothes.

"There are about fifty soldiers all stationed about two miles away. Twenty five of them are benders. The rest are skilled with various types of short swords. Now, the trees around them are very tall, considering that they have cut down most of the small ones, so a precise aerial attack is out of the question.

Now that we have five benders on our side, all with different types of bending, we should do fairly well with a surprise ground attack. I think we should do one of our standard surprise attacks. What do you think Kai?" He looked over at his sister. She sighed and began to rummage in the cabinets, swearing loudly as she jammed her thumb against a nail.

"Fuck! I thought I told you to nail that down? Well, I found your damn ideas. There is only one we haven't tried and I refuse to do that one, so we have to go with a past one." She said shaking her right hand in pain, holding a roll of paper in her left. She thrust the paper at her brother, rubbing her "injury".

"What is the one you refuse to do?" Katara asked, leaning over Thom's shoulder, looking at the list in curiosity.

"It involves seducing the men, but that goes against the code my parents set up, and that Thom and I now follow. We agreed to never put each other in the danger, unnecessarily. With only him to protect me, the chance of me being raped is just too great."

"But now, there are more of us, so we can do that one!" Thom said, trying to gun for the plan.

"But it's so demeaning towards women!" Katara exclaimed, clearly horrified. Kai only smiled.

"Actually, I have made him dress up like a boy from the circus before, to distract the soldiers. So I guess this is pretty fair. Fine, I'll do it. As long as you guys promise to help me when I give the signal." Kai said, looking around at the rest of the group.

"We would never dream of putting you in harm's way." Iroh said, comfortingly.

"We will set out tomorrow. For now, you guys can sleep in the rooms, Kai and I will sleep out here on the sofas. Oh, and Aang, there is a cave fairly close by that's very well hidden, would you like me to show your bison where it is so that he can sleep in peace?" Aang agreed and the boys walked up the staircase.

Iroh and Sokka began to check out the other rooms while Kai and Katara put some dried fruits and meat out on the table. Katara began to wonder about the past of the eccentric twins.

"When you mention your parents, it's always in the past tense. How long ago did they…?" she trailed off. The last thing Katara wanted to do was insult the girl.

"They died from a disease. We don't know what it was or how it happened. It was like one day they were there and the next day…they weren't." Kai whispered turning away from Katara, her emerald eyes turning glassy with unshed tears. "My brother and I were twelve years old. We have lived on our own ever since. We taught ourselves how to fight and how to survive out here. We warded off Fire Nation troops, and we lived off the land."

Zuko listened to the monologue, grateful that he had Iroh. Toph was walking around, inspecting the walls. She then moved on to the bedrooms, inspecting every inch of earth.

Thom and Aang returned from their little trip to the cave and they all sat down to the food at the table. Aang carefully skirted the meat, which Sokka fairly inhaled. Katara walked with Zuko back into the bedrooms, but then realized something. There were three beds, and people would have to share.

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Okay, thank you everybody for your reviews. I used AvatarFanatic5's names so they get huggles! This chapter was written right after my basketball team beat our rival's ass at their own homecoming (we don't have football) and it is now 12:30. Which means that it is also my dad's 50th birthday so yeah. Double Whammy! Thanks for reviewing!


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the long update! I have been soooooo busy but I hope this chapter makes it up to you guys! It's longer than the rest and I put a whole lot more work into it than the rest

Disclaimer: Don't own it!

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The bed situation was quickly worked out. Zuko, grudgingly, was to sleep with his uncle, Aang and Toph would share a bed, and Sokka and Katara would share. Zuko hated sharing a room with his uncle, heck; he even hated sharing a campsite due to his obnoxious snoring. He would rather sleep on the sofa that was left empty in the main room. In fact…

Kai woke to the sound of someone tossing and turning on the couch next to hers. Her brother was sleeping all the way across the room, near the entrance on the other couch. A struck match quickly revealed who the person was, his scar standing out in the flickering light. Kai's ears picked up the sound of loud snoring coming from the room Iroh was in.

_Good thing these walls are thick_.

Kai looked up the slope leading to the trap door. A small amount of light crept through the cracks. Leaving a note on the table, she slipped through the door, careful not to wake anybody up.

When she came back from her morning scout, she found everybody up. Katara and Thom stood at the stove laughing; Sokka blinking drowsily as he adjusted to all of the sound, and Aang was sitting in a corner meditating with Momo perched on his shoulder. Iroh was sniffing through his tea, collection, trying to find a good morning blend, and Zuko was looking irritated at all of the movement around him. Kai tossed her blades on the sofa that her brother had occupied.

"They haven't moved at all. We should probably attack around dusk. That should give me enough time to get in and distract them. There are mostly tall trees around there, but there are still some saplings that hide you guys good enough. But I don't think there's much room for bending though, so Thom and I will have to give you guys a crash course in stealth and weaponry."

Thom stopped laughing and quickly analyzed the group. Toph would probably do well with a mace or hammer; an impact weapon would be good for her. Zuko already had his own weapons as did Sokka, despite how much help he needed just so he wouldn't hurt himself. Aang had his staff, and there was enough room for air bending in the clearing. But what for Katara? Butterfly knives would be good for her or maybe even kunai. Iroh was a little bit of a liability, the soldiers were sure to recognize the famed "Dragon of the West"

Maybe throwing darts would be good for him. He could stay hidden and nobody would be able to report him to his evil brother. After running his ideas by his sister, Thom began digging under the sofas for their stash of weapons.

He slid the weapons across the floor to his sister.

"Let's go"

The rest of the morning and the majority of the afternoon were spent teaching the gang how to handle their new weapons and how to slip through the woodlands unnoticed. Iroh was completely happy with sitting in the back and throwing darts, which with he was soon extremely accurate. He, unfortunately, was extremely, well, large and he had a difficult time with the whole sneaking thing.

Aang was easily the best at stealth. He was able to lift himself from root to root to tree branch and to the ground all without making a sound. For Zuko, Sokka, Toph, and Katara, the twins supplied thick leather padded shoes which made no sound as they crept through the dry leaves.

Thom was teaching Katara how to use Butterfly Knives. They were small, thin, and intricately carved designed knives with one sharp edge. Used in pairs, the knives were great for close combat and easily hidden. Thom stood behind her and guided her arms through the correct movements. Every once in a while, she would blush as he put his hands over her arms to correct her stance, much like she had done to Aang a while back when teaching him the "octopus move".

They decided on hammers instead of a mace for Toph. It was much like her bending with the sharp movements and she got the hang of it very quickly. There wasn't much technique used for the hammers so she didn't need much coaching.

Aang was being taught how to use a small dagger so in case his staff was taken away, he could defend himself without bending. Kai was having a good time with the energetic boy and was pleased with the quick development of the young bender.

Sokka was a different story. He and Zuko were dueling and Zuko was easily overpowering him. Kai walked over after she finished with Aang, and she tried to correct Sokka's wild movements. She, like her brother, corrected his stance gently and after a while, his movements became more controlled. She set up Sokka and Thom to spar against each other and Zuko and Katara began to spar.

It was an interesting match. Katara's short butterfly knives required that she had to be a lot closer to Zuko than he had to be to her. She ended up getting in between his arms and thrusting a knife up underneath his chin, against his throat. Zuko dropped his blades in submission, an angry expression on his face.

It was late afternoon before they stopped training. They trudged back into the underground lair and surrounded the small table. Thom had drawn a diagram showing how they were going to attack.

Kai would "stumble" into the soldiers' camp and get the men distracted. Aang, Katara, Zuko, Sokka and Iroh would surround the camp. Thom had to stay close as to prevent a soldier from taking advantage of his little sister. After she got them distracted, Kai would signal for the attack. The teenagers would attack from all sides while Iroh stayed hidden in the trees, throwing darts.

It seemed simple enough, and they rested slept and rested for the rest of the day. About an hour away from sunset, they set off to the camp. The soldiers were a good two miles away, and the excursion was completed in utter silence, everyone wearing the leather moccasins that the twins provided. Kai had changed into a dress that was more form fitting and had several rips going across her stomach, legs, and arms.

They circled the campsite, staying about twenty yards away from the clearing. The sun drifted under the horizon, and Kai winked at her brother. She began to crash through the leaves and started to talk to herself.

"Oh why did I have to get separated? She is going to be so upset! Stupid forest, can't find my way through here at all. It's so dark out here!" She wailed into the night, while stumbling towards the Fire Nation camp. The soldiers looked up. Kai smiled and pretended to trip, making a large fuss.

"My ankle! Stupid tree roots. Help! Somebody help me!" she cried, trying to sound as pitiful as possible. The leader of the Fire Nation group nodded to a man, who did not seem to be a part of the group. He stood up and made his way to the "hurt" girl in the woods.

Once he found Kai, sitting on the broken leaves, clutching her ankle, his golden eyes lit up. Suddenly, Katara recognized him. It was the guy who tried to rape her! She suppressed a growl, but Zuko did not quite manage that. Thom looked over his shoulder and glared at the two, who were in turn, glaring at the man now hovering over Kai.

"Well, well, well, looks like somebody is lost." He said in an overly sweet and smooth voice. Kai looked up at him with big watery eyes.

"Please sir! I got separated from my dancing troupe and now I hurt my ankle! Please help me!" The man smirked and lifted her to her feet, his arm sliding around her waist, and stroking the skin that was exposed by a rather large rip.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of you." He said, and tried to lead her to the clearing. Kai started to walk, but she pretended to collapse on her "injured" ankle. The man smirked again, and picked her up bridal style and brought her into camp.

"Look what I found in the woods" he proclaimed, setting her down in the middle of the camp. Kai looked up with wide eyes that seemed to be filled with terror. The leader smiled.

"A young girl like you shouldn't be out here all alone. Why are you here?"

"I am part of a dancing troupe, but I got separated from them. I have been lost for two days" she said, beginning to sob.

"We can help you find your troupe" the officer replied, his eyes sweeping over her, his eyes lingering on…certain places.

"Really?" Kai said, faking a hopeful smile.

"ah, but you didn't let me finish. We will find your troupe, but we expect some payment."

"And what would that be?" Kai asked seductively. She leaned forward, the slashes in her dress spreading and revealing more skin than would be even remotely proper. The men's eyes widened.

"It couldn't be anything that would hurt me" her voice was sultry and low, as she looked up at the officer through her eyelashes. The man stepped to her and crouched down to her level.

"We wouldn't ask for anything that would hurt you" he said huskily, his rough hand reached out and stroked her arm. She placed her hand on his arm and winked at him. What the lustful officer did not know, however, was that the wink was not a flirtatious gesture.

The teenagers leapt out of the woods, weapons drawn. Katara immediately faced the man who tried to rape her earlier. They circled each other.

"Back for round two? You can't best me with your pathetic knives" he sneered, his ego swallowing him. She held her knives in a battle stance and kept circling him. Suddenly she lunged, but she did not slash him with the blade. Instead, Katara struck him with the hilt, and rendered him unconscious.

Thom was wielding his whip, striking swords out of soldiers' hands and cutting their wrists as they started to bend. After a while, he drew his katana and began to fight back to back with his sister, whose fighting knives were destroying the Fire Nation troupe.

Iroh was circling the camp, hidden in the woods, throwing darts at unsuspecting victims. Toph, despite her blindness, was doing well and had delivered some bone crushing blows to the soldiers. Aang had taken to sweeping the soldiers' feet out from underneath them with his bending, then knocking them out with the hilt of his dagger.

Zuko was trying to restrain himself. He wanted to bend and take the advantage over these pathetic excuses for soldiers but the twins had specifically warned him that if he or his uncle bended in their woods, they would be killed. He instead fought the general with his Dao and made quick work of him.

Within fifteen minutes, the soldiers were all unconscious. Kai left a small note with a wax seal in the shape of a set of fighting knives on the officer's chest and left them there. They made their way back to the twin's underground home, and when they got there, they were attacked by a very excited lemur.

Nobody sustained any major injuries. While the twins had strictly forbidden Iroh and Zuko from firebending, it did not stop the soldiers. Almost everybody had some burns or cuts on their arms or legs, but they were nothing Katara couldn't heal easily.

As Katara knelt with a bowl of water next to Sokka, Kai pulled a bunch of fruit and some dried meat out of the cabinet. Her hands lingered over a box of tea which Iroh eyed hungrily. She laughed and motioned for Thom to set a pot of water over the fire pit and light a small fire, which he did grumbling to himself about being a "slave".

After Katara healed everyone, they sat down to eat the small dinner. Not trying to be rude, Zuko voiced a question.

"If you don't mind me asking, why is the meal so small?"

"The best way to eat is to have a big breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner. It helps maintain a healthy weight and makes you feel better. You can go longer on a big breakfast than a big dinner. Why eat all of that food right before you go to sleep?" replied Thom idly, picking at his meat.

"I am so sick of jerky…we need to go hunting" he said, pushing the offending piece of food away. Sokka immediately picked it up and gobbled it down.

After dinner, instead of trying to sleep in the same room as his uncle, Zuko took up a sofa while the twins claimed the other two. Within minutes, almost everyone was asleep. The exceptions was Kai, who stayed up, sipping at a small cup of tea as her eyes examined Zuko.

_He is so young to have dealt with so much. He carries burdens I could never imagine. A man twice his age could never dream of living his life. The last thing he wants is sympathy but he deserves it from me._

Kai sipped the last drop of tea from her cup. A lock of hair hung across his eyes. .She stood, brushed it away, and collapsed on the sofa next to him.

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Once again I apologize for the long update. My dog had surgery, there was the area tournament for basketball, a ridiculous amount of tests and evil coaches so I have been busy. But this was six pages so I hope I made up for it!

Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: If I owned ATLA, it would be much different.

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The next morning, the Gang decided that it was time to keep moving. They went and got Appa out of the cave and the Twins stocked them up on food and gear (and Iroh some tea). When they tried to return the weapons that they had borrowed, they merely laughed and pushed the offered weapons back.

"What would we do with them? Before you guys got here they just gathered dust under that old sofa. Keep them. Weapons are useless if they just lie around." Kai said.

"What did that note say?" Zuko asked Kai quietly. She looked up in surprise and then smirked.

"It said that they had ten hours to get out of our forest and if they didn't make it out, we would kill them all." Zuko's eyes widened. As much as he seemed like he had, he had never killed a person and this girl talked as if killing people was an everyday occurrence for her. These Twins were more dangerous than Zuko had though before and he was glad that he did not manage to get on the wrong side of them.

They packed Appa's saddle and just before they all got on, Thom put his thumb and index finger between his lips and whistled shrilly. Two black birds descended from the treetops and landed on Thom's shoulders. One fluttered to Kai's shoulder.

"These are Kias, mountain parrots. They are naturally curious and usually get in trouble because of it. Their mother was killed by a soldier because she kept tearing up his equipment. We adopted them and fed them and we now use them to send messages to each other across the forest." Thom said, stroking the bird on his shoulder that was picking at his hair.

"This one is Alasdi and the other is Noni. Take Alasdi with you and whenever you need us, just send him back to us with a note." Thom continued.

"We can't afford to feed another mouth and keep up with another animal." Sokka interjected.

"Oh, don't worry. Alasdi will get his own food and water. He will follow you but at a safe distance. If you need him, all you have to do is whistle. When you want to send him back to us, just say 'Go find Thom' or "Go find Kai' and he will return to us. He will then lead us to your campsite." Kai stated resolutely, while stroking Noni.

"What about your forest?" asked Iroh. "What about protecting your home? People will move in if you come to help us" Concern wrinkled his forehead in thick lines.

"I think we can afford to be gone for a while to help you guys save the world." Thom said laughing.

Aang thanked them heartily and called the bird to him. After a moment of fluttering over his head, Alasdi cautiously lighted on Aang's shoulder and rearranged his feathers.

The rest of the group had all gotten on Appa and were waiting for Aang. He bowed to the strange Twins and bent himself onto the bison. Alasdi looked confused and nervously fluttered back to Thom. Thom softly whispered to the bird while stroking his feathers. He then threw his arm into the air and the bird flew to the saddle and settled on the side of it.

With a groan, Appa leapt into the air and slowly began to gain altitude. The Twins waved goodbye and then melted into the trees and shadows. From the saddle, the Gang watched them disappear.

The course they had set themselves on was a dangerous one. The plan was to fly over half of the Earth Kingdom, much of which was desolate and unpopulated and to then to infiltrate the southernmost point of the Fire Nation. Most of the threats to the Fire Nation came from the East and North from the Earth and Water Nations so the South was a lot less protected and far less populated. They could travel miles into the Fire Nation without the fear of being captured.

The plan would involve a lot of flying, and a lot of hiding. They couldn't even risk the threat of landing near the Earth Kingdom towns for fear of being discovered by Fire Nation soldiers. They couldn't be conspicuous or tell any body who they were because word of their presence could be spread and Azula could find them easily. With all of the connections that she had, tracking them wouldn't be that hard.

By the third straight day of flying, everybody was irritable. There was just no space to get away from each other and think. Toph couldn't see which made her even more sarcastic than usual. Zuko hated when he went more than a few days without bending and all of his nervous energy was turning into irritability. Katara and Sokka were arguing over rations for the trip and Aang was just getting tired of flying.

He didn't want to land but he realized that in a few hours, it would be at the point that people would be at each other's throats. They found a small clearing right next to a river so that they could get water and landed.

Toph face planted into the ground, flipped over and started making earth angels. Iroh quickly started a fire (to heat up the tea of course!) and Zuko dropped next to it, brooding. Katara started to set up camp while Aang plopped down next to Iroh to discuss their plans about Firebending. Sokka began to dig into the food packs which Katara promptly snatched and then boxed his ears.

After everyone was settled, Zuko went off to practice. He stripped his shirt off and rolled his shoulders next to the lazy river. The energy that he had bottled up from three days of inactivity turned into giant fireballs and monstrous fire whips. He went through all of his old combinations. Every movement was drilled into him and his muscles automatically remembered the forms. It felt good just to get it out.

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Yeah, yeah I know filler chapter. I'm not really expecting reviews for this one. But the next chapter will be delayed a little because that huge term paper is due. I am only halfway done and I have 13 more days to write it.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry! Major plot problems. I keep getting these little ideas for the story and then an evil plot bunny comes in, grabs my storyline and runs. Then I have to chase after it and cement it down and I just went way too far with that analogy…Anyway my phone and internet have been down as well so that caused a little delay. Now I know Zuko is really OOC in this chapter but it was necessary. Let's just say that he was like this so that he would be better accepted in the group. Onwards!

Disclaimer: I think I'm done with creative ways of saying that I don't own Avatar or any of the characters.

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Every movement was precise. Not a falter or a misstep in sight as Zuko worked to flames out of his stiff body. The ground bore scars of burned earth where the tongues of fire licked. After a final jet of high intensity fire, he stopped for a break. He heard yelling from camp. It was Katara but she wasn't yelling at her brother, like usual. The shouting was directed at Aang. Katara stomped out of camp and down to the river, blood boiling and steam practically coming out of her ears. She lunged into the water near Zuko and pulled up a water whip.

"Spar with me" she commanded, eyes still filled with rage. Zuko held up his hands and backed away.

"With the mood you're in now? I'd rather not." He was usually not the one for backing down from a fight, but after see in the fire in her eyes, he realized that the safe route was the one leading away from Katara at this moment.

"What? Scared that you might lose?" she taunted.

"I won't fight with you now." Zuko said and he turned his back on her and walked away. The water whip snaked out and seized his ankle. The whip quickly disappeared in a cloud of steam. He slowly turned around.

"Katara, I understand you're mad. But please, just calm down and think this through. What good will fighting me do?" he said, as he tried to pacify her. She was a strong bender, as much as he hated to admit it. Her eyes slowly lost their burning rage and the water whip dropped in the river.

Katara waded ashore and bent the water from her clothing. She sat down on the bank, knees to her chest, and stared blankly at the river. Zuko plopped down next to her and stared at the water as well. After looking at him strangely for a second, she asked "Why haven't you asked me why I'm so mad?" He looked at her and sighed.

"I know how much it irritates me when Uncle tries to pry information out of me. I figured that you might be the same way." Katara turned her eyes back to the softly flowing river.

"Aang doesn't want me near him when he is firebending. He says that he doesn't want me to get hurt."

"You're point?"

"What if he gets hurt? What if he sets the woods on fire or any number of other things?"

"Firebenders can put out fires just as well as they can create fire. It's a technique that very few know about and luckily, Uncle is one of them. And if Aang gets hurt, then I'm sure that Uncle will bring him to you."

"But…"

"That's not the thing that's really bothering you. What is it?" After glaring at him for a moment for breaking through her lie, she sighed and told him the truth.

"Iroh said something about benders being able to learn from other forms of bending. He mentioned that he knew a move that he learned from watching other benders. If he can learn from Waterbenders, why can't I learn from Firebenders? Why can't I just watch a fire…" she trailed off, and then looked at Zuko with big eyes.

"I can watch _you_ bending!"

"No. No way." Zuko promptly responded.

"Please? I can show you waterbending…"

Zuko's eyes briefly widened as he remembered his time with his Uncle at the deserted village, when he was trying to learn how to redirect lightning. As suddenly as a lightning bolt hitting the earth, Zuko realized the brilliance in her plan. If she could learn from him, he could maybe finally learn how to redirect lightning with her techniques! A smirk came onto his face as he turned back to Katara.

"Know what, I have reconsidered. You show me waterbending, and I'll show you firebending. Deal?" he said as he offered his hand.

"Deal" Katara shook his hand but turned back to the water after a moment.

"That wasn't the whole story you told me. Was it?" He asked after seeing her face.

"Last time he tried to learn firebending, it went very wrong. I just don't want him to get discouraged."

"You're not his mother. By worrying over him, you're just making it hard on yourself and hard on him. And once he hits teenage years, he won't appreciate your hovering as much and in the long run, you are just going to be smothering him and there is a chance that he will resent you for it."

"Since when are you an expert on child behavior?"

"It's just what will happen. Trust me on this one."

She smiled and looked up at him. A crimson blush flared across her cheeks when she realized that Zuko wasn't wearing a shirt. Katara tore her eyes away from his sculpted chest and abdomen before he noticed. She stood up, and dusted the dirt off of her. Before walking back to camp she turned.

"Thanks Zuko." Another smile lit across her face and she made her way back to camp.

Unfortunately for her, Zuko had seen her blush and where her eyes were. An almost unnoticeable grin flashed across his features before he grabbed his shirt and also went back to camp. It felt good to be admired; even it was from a water peasant.

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Gah! This is probably one of the worst chapters that I have ever written but at least it is done. Maybe now I can get this plot moving a bit. My soccer team is about to go to Oklahoma City for Regional's and so it may be about a 2-3 weeks before I post again but I swear I will post faster. I just had to work through this plot thing. Once again, really sorry about the delay.


	11. Chapter 11

Okay! My ribs are pretty much healed so hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more updates in before school starts!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it!

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The next day, Zuko and Katara waited until Aang and Iroh were practicing and until Sokka to go hunting to head down to the river. Katara was eager to learn a new style of bending her element and she practically skipped down to the sandy bank. Zuko followed, not nearly as excited as she. He sat down on the bank and folded his hands on his lap.

"Wait…what are you doing?" she asked, confused as to why he was sitting down on the river bank instead of teaching her.

"The basis of firebending is balance. Without meditation and concentration, then the fire will not come."

"Well I'm not trying to firebend! I'm trying to learn firebending techniques."

"Maybe if you shut up and meditate, then I will teach you!" he responded, clearly irritated. With a "humph" she plopped down next to him and imitated his posture.

"Firebending is from the breath so maintaining your breathing pattern is essential…" Zuko started, recalling a lesson from his uncle. "…you need to feel every breath go in and your chi flowing throughout your body. When you begin to feel this, it will make it so your can concentrate your chi into fire." Katara rolled her shoulders forward, trying to relax, and closed her eyes. After a deep breath, she began to fall into a pattern. She could feel her chi flowing in deep pulses in her body, every time she took a breath, her chi rushed, and when she let it out, the wave of chi subsided, like a tide deep within her.

Zuko had been maintaining his breathing pattern for a while when he open one golden eye and peeked at the waterbender. She was concentrating fully on the simple task at hand. He stood up slowly, letting all of the built up stiffness in his muscles flow out of him.

"The next step with firebending is letting the chi out to create a flame." Katara stood up abruptly. Zuko lit a fire in the palm of his hand while Katara brought a small orb of water from the creek to hers. "The movement is simple. It is a punch while trying to force your chi out of your fist." He showed her the motion without his fire. She copied him. "Now to try it while bending." He punched his fist towards the creek and a large fireball burst forth from his clenched knuckles.

Katara examined the motion and copied it again without her water, just to get the movement down and slowly, she let the water hover up in front of her. She made the same punching motion but instead of flying towards the creek, the water made a half-hearted lurch and fell to the ground. A frustrated growl came from deep in her throat. She picked up more water and tried again, with the same result.

"You are still thinking like a waterbender. Your movement is too smooth. Instead of trying to connect the movements, make it sharp." Zuko commanded. She glared at him. She tried again, trying to make it sharper like he had instructed. The water flew a short distance, but not with enough strength to do any damage.

"Sharper!" She tried again.

"Sharper!" Again.

"Sharper!" Katara's blood was starting to boil.

"Sharper!" She turned to him and punched out strongly. A huge ball of water shot out at him and smacked him in the stomach, causing him to be thrown back into a tree and have the wind knocked out of him. Katara stood over him triumphantly, panting, before she realized what she had done. With sudden realization, she gasped and knelt down to Zuko's side.

"Oh! I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry Zuko! It was an accident! Let me see if I hurt you." She started to lift up his shirt where she had hit him, her healing instinct overcoming her. He batted her hand away.

"I'm fine! Leave me alone!" he stood up.

"But…!"

"Back to your training!" he roared. Again, Katara glared at him.

"Who do you think you are to be telling _me_ what to do?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous.

"Your instructor. Now back to your training." She turned back to the river and kept working on the new technique he had shown her.

After a few hours of work, Zuko told her to stop working and to get back to camp. Katara turned to him and told him that he was no longer her instructor for that day and now that she could stop listening to him…which she promptly did. She stripped her dress off and dove into the river. Zuko looked at her for a second, then turned his back on her and walked towards camp.

Sokka was sitting by a meager fire, sharpening his boomerang. He glanced up when Zuko got into camp, and then turned back to his boomerang. Apparently his hunting wasn't very successful and they were going to have to either eat fruit, or find some way to catch fish. And seeing as how Katara was presently frolicking in the stream and scaring off the fish, it looked like they were going veggie for the night. Zuko sent a jet of flame at the tiny campfire, making it roar into life and Sokka jump back a few feet in surprise. Presently, Katara came waltzing into camp, still dripping water and still in her underclothes.

"Katara! Cover up!" shouted Sokka, grabbing her dress and trying to cover her body from the eyes of the firebender, who merely raised his eyebrow in response. Katara sighed and bent the water from her clothing which she promptly dropped on Sokka. Aang and Iroh came back into camp as well and Aang dropped beside the fire, exhausted. Toph, who had been playing with Momo, tossed him a peach, which he gobbled down.

"Hungry much Twinkletoes?" asked Toph. He looked up and then looked back down to finish his food. Katara laughed and wrapped her dress around her loosely. She sat down next to her brother, clearly not surprised that he had not caught anything for dinner. She pulled a small pot out from one of the bags and filled it with water from her bending pouch. Katara placed it over the fire to let it start to boil. After adding a few choice spices and herbs from the same bag that the twins had given her, she started to add vegetables to make a makeshift stew for dinner.

When it was finished, Zuko sniffed the stew cautiously before trying a bite. It wasn't bad but it wasn't the best he had ever tasted so he slowly ate it while Aang and Sokka began to greedily gulp it down.

"Look's like Aang here may be going through a growth spurt!" Iroh exclaimed, watching the two boys gobble down the soup.

"Or he has tapeworm." Toph responded. Zuko allowed a small smirk to grace his features. Sokka or Aang with tapeworm: that would explain a lot. After finishing dinner, Katara gathered up the dirty bowls and stew pot to take them down to the river bank to clean. Taking a cue from his uncle, Zuko followed her to help her and to make sure nothing happened to her. Sokka's eyes tracked him deep into the forest until he was out of sight. He still didn't trust the ex-prince.

Katara had knelt next to the water and had begun to scour the dishes with sand. The course grit would take out any remnants of that night's stew and take away most of the smell so they wouldn't attract any hungry animals, or have Momo going through the food sacks late at night. Zuko stood with his back to a tree, observing quietly.

"You know, you could come over here and help me." Katara remarked idly over her shoulder. Zuko looked up and hefted himself from his spot against the tree. He too, knelt by the water and began to rinse the sand out of the dishes that she had washed.

"I think we are going to be leaving this place tomorrow. Apparently Toph felt some footsteps today." Katara said, trying to bring up some form of conversation.

"Really" Katara looked up from the pot she was washing. His hands held a small wooden bowl and he was gently washing it clean in the water. Katara could almost feel the coarseness of his hands through her element and the realization, for some reason, sent a chill through her body. Her mind recollected when she lifted his shirt to try to heal him. She hadn't been paying attention to it when it happened, but her mind distinctly recalled her fingers brushing against the hard plane of his stomach. Another chill.

_No Katara! You can't think of him like that!_ Her mind screamed.

_**Why not?**_ Another voice asked. _**He's with your group now. It's not like Zuko is the enemy any more…**_ Katara quickly blocked these thoughts from her mind and she looked up again from the surface of the water.

Zuko was looking at her strangely. She had been sitting, staring at the water for quite a bit, and every few seconds, a shiver ran the length of her body. Strange...

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Thank you so much for all of your patience with me. And thank you for all of those wishing me well. It really meant a lot to me. There is nothing I hate more than being injured so this has been kind of hard for me. Once again, thank you and please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA

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That night, Katara couldn't stop thinking about him. It had been so long since she had felt this kind of thing and in all honesty, it scared her. The last time that she got close to a guy, he betrayed her and tried to kill innocent people. It was only a matter of time until it happened again.

She closed her eyes, rolled over onto her side and tried to get some sleep but a familiar torso showed up in her mind's eye which swept upwards to the chiseled visage of Zuko's scarred face.

She flipped over to her other side and tried to distract herself. A lullaby that her mother used to sing to her popped into her head and she began to imagine her mother's voice, gently singing to her to get her to go to sleep. What Katara didn't realize, was that she was gently singing it aloud and Zuko could hear.

"_You got some one here who want's to make it all right_

_Some one that loves you more than life_

_Right here._

_You got willing arms that will hold you tight_

_A hand that will lead you on through the night_

_Right here._

_I know your heart can get all tangled up inside._

_But don't you keep it to yourself._

_When your long day is over,_

_And you can barely drag your feet_

_The weight of the world is on your shoulders_

_I know what you need._

_Bring it on home to me._

_You know I know you like the back of my hand._

_You know I'm gonna do all that I can_

_Right here._

_I'm gonna lie with you till you fall asleep_

_When the morning comes I'm still gonna be_

_Right here. Yes I am_

_Take your worries and just drop them at the door._

_Baby leave them all behind._

_When your long day is over,_

_And you can barely drag your feet_

_The weight of the world is on your shoulders_

_I know what you need._

_Bring it on home to me._

_Baby let me be your safe harbor._

_Don't let the water come and carry you away._

_When your long day is over,_

_And you can barely drag your feet_

_The weight of the world is on your shoulders_

_I know what you need._

_Bring it on home to me._

_You got some one here who want's to make it all right_

_Some one that loves you more than life_

_Right here."_

She wasn't singing very loud. It was almost a whisper and Zuko barely heard it. It was a soft and flowing melody, much different than the ones he was used to hearing in the Fire Nation. The words were different too. In the Fire Nation, they used a different way of getting children to sleep.

They sang them stories of the past and of the war. They weren't soothing but they were enough to get the children to bed and to get them to be quiet which was what most nobles wanted any way. Quiet obedient children were prized. The whole point of Katara's song was to comfort the child instead of pacifying it and getting it to shut up. He decided that he liked Katara's lullaby.

The soft tune played in his dreams all night long. When he woke up the next morning, he realized that when he was walking around, he was humming the tune. When they were packing up Appa to move to another location, he found himself softly singing what he could remember of the song. Katara picked up her head sharply.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just a lullaby." He responded turning away from her. He didn't want her to think that he was watching her. She turned away slowly.

_Was he singing my mother's lullaby?_ She asked herself. _How could he have? It's not like he could have heard it last night. I wasn't singing it! Maybe he's just heard it before. Yeah that's it. He has just heard it before. _She knew it wasn't true, it was a Water Tribe song that had been passed down from her Gran-Gran to her mother. But it was still good to have a reason, no matter how unlikely it would be.

The air up in the stratosphere was cold. A low mountain range was below them and mist was rising from the valleys. Toph had huddled next to Iroh for warmth and Aang had buried himself in Appa's thick fur around his head. Sokka sat stoically by himself but by the way that he was shivering, he was clearly cold. Unconsciously, Katara found herself leaning up against the warm form of Zuko. He looked startled and looked like he was about to push her away but he changed his mind and raised his body temperature a few degrees to warm her up better.

Zuko's warmth was a comforting warmth. It was the kind of heat that you felt sitting in front of a campfire with a cup of hot soup on a chilly spring night. She snuggled up to his body, enjoying the heat.

He stiffened as she brought herself closer to him. _I think this is what they call "snuggling" _His mind chuckled. He quickly silenced the voice but it came back in Iroh's eyes when the old man winked at him. Zuko scowled and his body temperature raised another degree. Briefly, Katara hummed a little from the lullaby she was singing the day before as she settled down.

Katara wrapped an arm around him and dozed off. She didn't get much sleep the night before and he was a nice warm pillow.

About an hour later Zuko woke up. He found his arm wrapped around her waist, her arms around him and their bodies pressed close together. Sokka was drooling in his asleep and Toph and Iroh were flopped back to back, snoring. Aang was still huddled in Appa's fur, barely maintaining a state of semi-consciousness. Zuko dozed off again.

Another hour later, they began to descend and they were all woken by the urge to pop their ears. Katara and Zuko realized how close they were and promptly jumped apart. A blush graced both of their cheeks.

They landed in another clearing, again, by a creek. After setting up camp, everybody went their separate ways. Iroh and Aang went to firebend, Sokka went to try and redeem himself hunting and Zuko and Katara went to the water. It was Zuko's turn to learn.

Katara took off her dress and waded waist deep in the stream. Zuko stayed on the bank, looking at her as if she was crazy.

"You made me meditate, I'm making you swim now get out here." Zuko stripped off his shirt and once again, Katara's drifted downwards toward his hard abs. She jerked her eyes back up and tried to train her eyes on his face. He smirked at her rather obvious attraction to him body. This could be fun.

He walked up to her and stood in front of her, his muscles gleaming in the water. Her confident smile faltered a bit and he smirked again. She pulled an orb of water up from the stream and began to teach him her bending techniques.

"Water is about feeling a flow. The water has a current and a tide which is what all water benders feel inside of them. It is sort of like your form of feeling your chi flow through your body." She started to pull the water in a long strand to her left hand.

"Now make a fire ball." He did so.

"Pull it into a rope." He copied what she was doing. She began to pull it from one hand to another in a rhythm. It looked a like what Iroh had tried to teach him on the mountaintop near the abandoned town. He could see the technique that Iroh had copied for himself and he was able to copy it almost exactly with his fire.

It was an easy exercise for Katara. She wasn't exactly concentrating very much. Zuko, however was concentrating as hard as he could. His good eye was almost closed in his effort. The fire began to flicker from the red and orange to a slight blue tint in the very core. She stared at it.

Another flicker.

And another. The blue was spreading.

Forty-five minutes later and the blue was still there. It started out as a small little blur of blue and it grew to the point that the entire core of the flames was the same vibrant blue. Zuko didn't even notice so Katara let him continue.

The blue came to overpower the red and orange until the whole fire ball was an electric blue.

"Zuko! Zuko! You made blue fire! Oh La you did it!" His eyes opened wide and stared at the orb of blue between his hands, which were now shaking.

"Agni…I did it!" after a second of staring at it breathlessly, he let the fire die. Katara promptly threw herself at him and hugged him around his neck. Automatically, Zuko hugged her back and out of shear happiness, he twirled them around in the water. Her body was pressed flush against him and when he realized just how close they were, he barely suppressed a shiver.

She was laughing, and for the first time in a long while, so was he.

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I know, I know. I'm a horrible updater just please review!

Oh and the song is "Bring It On Home" by Little Big Town and I neither own it or have any affiliations with said band.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own it!

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They decided jointly to not tell the others. Zuko wanted time to fully develop and perfect his new found weapon. After finding their way back to the camp, Katara began to make supper as usual and Aang stumbled in, Iroh trailing happily behind him. Apparently, Aang was learning the forms that took Zuko years to master. Needless to say, he was sore. Very, very sore.

Toph spent her day experimenting with new earth bending moves that would come in handy in heavily wooded areas. Sokka had been out hunting and he somehow managed to find a rather fat squirrel-rabbit that Katara managed to incorporate into that night's stew.

Zuko peeled off his shirt, flopped down on his mat, and closed his eyes.

Blue.

It's all he could see. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to clear his mind a bit.

Blue.

It wasn't just the flames he was seeing either. He saw the huddled mass of Katara's dress laying on the bank. He saw the intense blue of her eyes when she leapt at him to wrap her arms around his neck. _Agni those arms were amazing._ The cold clearness of the blue stream. Everything was blue. It was driving him mad. _Her body up flush up against him. Skin on skin, pressing tightly together._ He had to stop these thoughts!

A walk. A walk would do him good. Zuko opened his eyes again and looked around camp. They were asleep. He stood up and quietly made his way out of camp. His feet carried him back to the stream where the soothing sound of the water running over the polished river stones relaxed his anxious mind but did absolutely nothing for his problem. The moon was reflected on the surface and the dark blue sky danced around it as the ripples in the water passed.

Flames grew in his right hand and Zuko stared at the jumping fire. Red. Finally something familiar in all of this confusion. Holding it out in front of him, he drowned the midnight blue sky in the water with bright red and orange flames. While he was wrapped up in his thoughts, Zuko failed to hear the crunching of leaves and the soft whisper of cloth on skin that came from behind him.

"Hey"

He jumped. Katara sat down next to him and stared at the flames in his hand.

"I guess you have a lot on your mind, don't you?" she asked, her eyes still trained on the red, because like him, she could only thing of one color that night when her eyes closed.

"Yeah" She hummed softly, the same tune from earlier. Katara leaned up against his bare arm and put her head on his shoulder to rest. Zuko had to suppress a twitch of surprise when her head connected with him. His arm so badly wanted to wrap around her.

But still, she hummed.

"What is that tune?" he asked, trying to break the awkward near silence.

"It was a lullaby that my mother taught me before she died. She used to sing Sokka and I to sleep every night." Nostalgia was creeping in, which usually is a breeding ground for uncomfortable moments.

"Did you have lullabies growing up?"

"Not in the same sense as you did." He quietly responded. "Most fire nation songs are those of war, not exactly meant for singing children to sleep." Zuko noticed his arm was moving on its own accord, around her back and bringing her closer.

Katara looked up from her concentration of the flame still in his hand. His eyes rested lightly on the hem of her dress. Her head dropped back to his shoulder as his arm gently brought her in closer.

_What the hell am I doing?_ Zuko mentally berated himself. _You cannot like her! She is water nation!_ But the rest of his mind ignored what little reasoning was left and in a few moments, his arm was snuggled around her waist and her head that had once been resting on his shoulder, now leaned up against his chest.

Katara's mind had gone numb. The only thing she saw was the licking red of the flames. His heart beat thudded next to her ear. She looked up again. This time his eyes connected with hers and his head had dropped slightly, his breath upon her neck.

Slowly.

Slowly they inched closer, neither being truly aware of the circumstances. Their lips were mere moments from connecting when…

"Shrrddd?" Momo purred, his big green eyes peering out at them, practically glowing in the night.

The two benders leapt apart, almost as if they had been caught doing something they shouldn't have and Katara ran back to camp. The spell was broken.

What now?

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I know, but please don't kill Momo. I'm telling you, it will happen. Now I will be out of town all of this week with very limited internet time so I am sorry if I don't immediately respond to reviews and such. Much Love!!


	14. Chapter 14

So I come home from project week, and I find that my family has adopted a cat. He's only staying for a week but he is taking up a lot of my time so I'm sorry if the next update does not come for a while. And as promised: a new chapter within a week. I think it's a record for me!

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA

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Katara practically flew back to camp, she was running so fast. She was in her sleeping bag, her head on a makeshift pillow of an old dress before Zuko moved from his spot next to the water.

_What in the world was I thinking?_ His mind berated him as memories of the moment replayed themselves in his head. It took him a while to stand up, not wanting to run into a very confused waterbender at the camp. He made his way back and found Katara asleep, or she was a good actress and was able to fake sleep.

Heaving a sigh, he fell to the ground and curled up on his sleeping mat. He knew that the next morning when they were training there would be hell to pay.

The morning rose with a fine mist which soaked most of their clothes. Appa groaned, clearly unhappy with the situation while Momo dried off in his thick undercoat. Katara made breakfast for all of them and without eating; she went down to the river. She didn't seem very angry but she wasn't happy either.

After a bit, Zuko followed. She was in the river, hurling icicles into nearby trees. A few glanced off some of the tall rocks that decorated the river, poking up out of the cold water. One came very close to his head as he waded into the water. She paused and whirled on him.

"Look Zuko, whatever happened between us last night we just need to forget about it. It was a mistake us even being there together and it needs to be left behind."

"What? Are you trying to say that you didn't want me to kiss you? I could see it in your eyes"

"What?" she demanded.

"Desire. You want me. You want to make you feel like your whole body is on fire. You want nothing more right now, than for me to kiss you." he responded, slowly moving around her, breathing on her neck like he had done when he had tied her up to a tree. Her whole body stiffened as she felt the skin of his abdomen brush against her back. Without even realizing it, she had moved closer to him and as he circled to her front, she was pressed up against his rock hard body.

"See? You feel it now. All you want is…"

"NO! I will never, ever want you!" she cut him off, desperately trying to stay in control of a situation that was quickly sliding downhill for her. Her concentration was slipping and all thoughts of bending flew from her head.

Suddenly, he had her pressed up against a rock, her arms held above her head. Her back instinctively arched from the cold surface, pressing her body flush up against his. His abs pressed tight against her as her skin responded with goose bumps that ran the length of her torso. He could feel her rapid breathing across his neck and chest and in a moment, his lips crashed down upon hers.

Was it passion that he felt? Zuko wasn't entirely sure but the feeling of her body and her lips pressed onto him made him want more. She was so warm, so soft. But the supple muscle of her arms and the toned plane of her stomach showed that he wasn't the only one that took care of them self well. He coaxed her lips apart and his tongue dove into her mouth. _Agni, she tastes so good._ He took detect that morning's breakfast of fruit and tea on her lips and he wanted more.

His tongue enticed hers into moving with him and his hands dropped her wrists to go around her waist, pulling her as close as possible. His hands left hot trails along the smooth skin of her waist, then the small of her back. Now that her hands were free, they immediately tangled themselves in his thick hair, pulling gently.

Water lapped up against them and a breeze blew over their close bodies, making them both shiver, despite the heat that they had created. Zuko pulled away and looked into her clouded eyes.

"And you told me that you didn't want me."

"I don't." And then their lips were together again although this kiss was less demanding and rough. His hands traversed her back and ran up and down her sides while hers stayed firmly entangled in his now wet and snarled hair. His lips left hers and began to travel down her neck, leaving wet kisses on his way down. He began to suckle at her pulse point, making her whimper.

"Zuko…" He bit her lightly, making her gasp.

"Zuko." She said a bit more firmly. "We can't do this."

"And why not?" he asked, his teasing lips moving up the side of her face, right to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

"Because, I told Aang that I would train with him today in waterbending. He will be here any minute and I don't want to have to explain a hickey on my neck."

Zuko reluctantly pulled away. Brushing a feather light kiss upon her slightly swollen lips, he backed away. A cold rush swept between their bodies, wanting the warmth of the other back.

He waded out of the water and picked up his discarded shirt on shore. Crunching sounds were heard as Aang approached from camp and Zuko leapt into the woods. He walked back to camp where he saw his uncle sitting happily next to a brewing pot of tea.

"So nephew, how are your lessons with Miss Katara going?"

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Ha! I told you I would have a new chapter in a week! I know its short but I promised Zutara action (and a live Momo) and here it is!

R&R


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